Embracing the Princess

Aug 14, 2015
2 min read

There is a lot written about the "big bad princess" obsession.

I always wondered if my little three-year-old princess, or as I have called her on this blog the, United States President-to-be, would be interested in princess stuff.

For Christmas she received a Cinderella dress and matching doll from my uncle. Due to the sea of presents from my generous family, we put it in her closet when we returned home from our family gathering. She discovered it again in May.

Then it happened.

She put on the dress, and it was over.

She loves princess stuff. She wants bracelets, pink shoes, frilly dresses, magic wands, talking pets, etc. She wants her brother to be a prince and daddy and mommy to be the king and queen (she insists on outfits). You get the picture (in fact, here is a picture of her wearing a princess version of Superman).

I would call myself a feminist, and I am not one bit upset with this obssession. Why?

I haven't seen this much imagination from my child...ever!

She thinks she has magic and can solve problems. She dances and twirls. Tries to do flips. She makes up her own songs. It's adorable and creative.

She was trying to talk to me about telling the truth at dinner the other night and in her frustration (she was trying to lie) she told me, "but it's true love!"

She made me smile at her effort. I also want to point out that she has only watched two princess movies, Frozen and The Little Mermaid.

But her favorite morning cartoons are PBS' Daniel Tiger and Blaze, a cartoon about a monster truck.

And she still loves twirling in frilly dresses. I love when she tells me that she looks beautiful.

She smiles. We smile. What's not to like?

So, what? The princess is always a damsel in distress or pining after a man. I get it. We want more for our daughters. We want to give them good role models. We want to provide educational options about self-fufilling happiness.

Cinderella was always my favorite. She stood up to the mean people in her life, and she found a support system in the Fairy Godmother. I remember Cinderalla as a nice person who worked hard. Growing up poor, I connected with her.

I didn't remember the prince part too much, but male or female, we all want a partner in life. That lesson is not such a bad thing. I feel so lucky to have found my prince. Life wouldnt' be so fulfilling without him, and his support is incredibly important to my career.

If Olivia wants to be Princess Olivia, who am I to crush her imagination?